Customer Reviews

The Creative Life: A Workbook for Unearthing the Christian Imagination

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love this book. I have been basically challenged to see a different side to scripture. God is a creative God, and therefore calls us to be creative. If we stop living for ourselves, we can see that God has blessed us with creativity, no matter who you are. This book helps you discover your creativity in your everyday life, and use it for God's glory.

I have purchased this book multiple times because I keep giving away my latest copy to friends in need of unearthing their imagination in their spiritual journey! Alice's writing is genuine and delightful and inviting and there are moments in this engaging workbook that stay with me forever. Some of the exercises -- particularly the one about going inside your heart and discovering what kind of room lies there! -- are haunting and beautiful and I believe I am the better for having explored my Spirit (and The Spirit!) in those ways. Highly recommend this great workbook!

Alice Bass has written a great workbook to help creative people understand why they are creative, and to enlighten "non-creative" people about their latent talents. It's clear and practical, and takes you down a logical path. The key word for me is in the subtitle: "unearthing." There's a lot of discussion about whether creativity can be taught, but "The Creative Life: A Workbook for Unearthing the Christian Imagination" shows that it's more of a discovery process, like mining for gold. As C.S. Lewis once wrote (I'm paraphrasing), "The Christian should be the one whose imagination should soar beyond the stars." I highly recommend this book for Christian discussion groups, those involved in the arts, or anyone wanting to explore the depths of their creative gifts.

a treasure! this book is dear to me because it came out in a time when being an artist was not particularly valued in the american evangelical church. today this is not a great problem, largely because of alice bass and others like her who worked change this reality. she was a pioneer and many have followed and all are better for it! "the creative life" is a gentle bible study, with imagination exercises, designed to show how god's creativity is mirrored in our own.

As a beginning mixed media artist I was looking for a way to combine my Christianity and my art. I want to understand more about the gift God has given me and use it to glorify Him and help others. This book presents a good way to put this process in place. You will also learn about God's purposes for the creative process, whether you are an artist or not. All of us combine our productivity with our creativity every day. The writer did a good job of explaining these two processes.

I love this book. It helped me realize more fully that we are made in the image of a "creator" and so we are creative. Even people who think they are not creative have opportunities every day for creativity! What a blessing!

this is an amazing book, full of wonderful ideas and very creative tools. this book is a must for all artists, from actors and writers to mothers and fathers (who are, after all, the greatest of artists').

If you really must study every Old and New Testament occurrence of words pertaining to creativity and artists and musicians, go ahead and get this book, it leads you through a topical word study.

If you want a book in creativity with a decidedly Christian slant that will help you understand your creative nature and why you may be blocked creatively, I recommend the book The Creative Call instead of this one. The Creative Call is much more in depth, and has exercises designed to help you understand how creativity works.

If you are secure enough to know that a book does not have to include strictly "evangelically Christian" language in order to be helpful, go ahead and enjoy The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and/or Creativity for Life by Eric Maisel, PhD. Ms. Cameron and Dr. Maisel are both the most in-depth authors and counselors regarding creativity issues, and both have a nice series of books that are time tested by many many other creative types.

Not very enlightening for me, but I pick it up every once in a while, and then put it down again for a long while. "The Artist Way" is very similar, and preferred by me.

I have read several books on creativity and spirituality. I had hoped to use this book for a group study at my church, but ended up being very disappointed. There is little here that seemed new and fresh.

One note: It seems completely geared toward women. All the stories and examples are very feminine in perspective, and that is fine, but it should say so in the description. I think a typical male would have a hard time relating to it. My guess is that traditional women from conservative, evangelical churches would find this book most helpful.